Chaeles stilwell



(No Model.)

C. STILWELL.

. THILL COUPLING. No. 375,220. Patented Dc. 20, 1887.

ATTO NEY j UNITED STATES,

P /rrENT Gruen.

CHARLES STILWELL, OF MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY.

THiLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,220l dated December20, 1887.

Application filed March l2, 1887.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLns STILWELL, of Morristown, New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Thill-Gouplings, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention consists of improved contriv ances for a detachableconnection of the thills of a buggy to the axle-clips without theemployment of any adjustable part-as a springnut, key, or screwwand sothat t-he joints will not become noisy with the slack of wear, and alsoso that the connection and disconnection can be madein the most simpleand ready manner, all as hereinafter fully described, reference beingmade to the accompanying draw-- ings, in which- Figure l is a planview-of my improved t.hil1-coupling. Fig.I 2 is a side elevationof theaxle-clip and longitudinal section of the thill-iron, the thill being inthe position of use. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the coupling entirein the same position. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the axle-clip andsection of the thill-iron, showing the position of the thills foreffecting the connection er disconnection.

The axle-clip a isniade with a pivot-bearing hook, b, to receive thepivot c, which is carried in the forks d of the thill-iron e, said hookhaving an opening in 'the top to receive the pivot, which is rigidlysecured in the forks.

-The center of said opening is a little back of the vertical plane ofthe pivot-bearing of the hook, and its breadth from f to gis from aquarter to a third, or thereabont, less than the diameter of the pivotand the bearing therefor to which said opening is the entrance. Thepivot is correspondingly flattened ath, which is its upper side when thethills are in the working position,` and, is then coincident with theopening. The rest of the pivot,being of full size, lls the wider portionof the bearing below the opening, and is therefore confined and securedin its position by the convergeht points f g above. The pivot isinserted or removed through the opening by turning the thills upperpendieularly, as represented in Fig. 4, which shifts the pivot sothat its narrower sectionwill pass through the opening. v

For a safeguard against the possible escape of the pivot by any lsharpthrust or wrench that may happen, and also to prevent noise by rattle incase of slackness, Iarrange the roller t' in ears j of the pivot, forkedunder the pivot and so as to swing and roll along a portion, k, of thehook concentric with the bearing, and thus keep the pivot down on itsbearing. This roller may be made of metal or any hard andslightly-elastic substance-as rubber, vulcanized fiber, or the like.This rollerguard is more positive and avoids the friction and wear ofthe sliding guard with a spring behind it, which has been tried. Tofacilitate the inserting of the pivot and removal of it ,through theopening, provision is made for a little slackness of the upper end ofthe hook between the pivot and roller by .making the hook narrower fromits end down to the concentric part k, so that the pivot may not heobstructed in its passage through the opening, and less care will berequired as to the position of the uplifted thills for inserting thepivot.

In a space at the front of the bearing-hook and between the forks d ofthe thill-iron I arrange a block-spring, Z, of elastic rubber, as afurther means of preventing the rattling of slackness, said spring beingplaced in its position without any special fastening, but being securedby the forks the projecting end m of the thill and the bottom piece, n,the latter being a thin plate that may be welded or otherwise secured onthe thill-iron, if welded on the spring, may be put in position beforethe pivot c is put in, and said pivot may be detachably secured in theforks for renewal of the springs and of thepivot. The spring may,however, be crowded into its place without removal of the pivot when thethills are turned upright, provided the projection m of the thill be alittle shorter.

The hook is thinner at the point than where the spring bears on it, inorder that it shall not catch the spring when the thills are turned downafter having been raised upright for any purpose, and so that the springwill come to an effective bearing when the thills are down to theworking position.

To relieve the pivot c and roller i, and also to relieve spring Z, tosome extent of their tension when the carriage is not in use; Ioonstruct the hook b with a recess7 making some- IOO what less radius ato, where the roller comes to rest when the thills are let down on thefloor, and to prevent the collection of mud and dust in thepivot-bearing I arrange a rubber,leather,or other dust-guard, p, overit, said guard consisting of a fiat strip connected by one end to theclip a for attachment, and reacting forward at the other end, which isunattached, over the spring` Z to the end of prolo jection m of thethill and beyond the hook, so that when the thills are to be connectedthe free end of said guard may be raised by presenting the pivot underit and raising the pivot over the hook by carrying the thills nearly inan upright position in the hands.

It will thus be seen that with this improved coupling the connection maybe -niadc by simply taking the thills in the hands, presenting them inthe upright position, lifting the guard by the pivots, dropping thepivots into the bearings and turning the thills down, and thedisconnection requires only the raising of the thills to the uprightposition and lifting the pivots out, no extra piece of any kind beingused, and all thc trouble and the Waste by loss of such devices areavoided, besides thc accidents that happen in consequence of the loss offastenings.

I make the clip with thrustbearings g, and the pivot-forks withthrust-extensions s,to relieve the pivots of the back-thrusts of suddenstops and of backing the carriage, said bear ings and extensions beingcurved correspondingly to the radius of the pivot, so as to bearproperly in the changing action of the projections by the motions of thehorse.

Whatclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The co1nbination,with the clip-l1ookl1av ing the open bearing for thepivot of the thilliron rigidly connected in the forks of said iron, of aguard under the concentric portion of the hook, consisting of a rollerpivoted in the ears of the pivot-forks, substantially as described.

2. The combination of thc springl in the recess of the pivot-forks withsaid pivot, the pivot-bearing hook, and thefruard-roller, substantiallyas described.

3. The pivot-bearing hook having the recess o back of the concentricportion 7c, in combination with gnard-roller i, spring Z, pivot c, andthe pivot-forks, substantially as described.

4. A thill-conpling consisting of the pivotbearing hook formed on theclip and the pivotcarrying fork formed on the thill-iron, said cliphaving a thrust-bearing on each side of the hook curved radially to the'piv0t-bear iug,and the pivot having an extension of each prong similarlycurved and respectively coacting with said thrust-bearings for resisting6o tl1cback-thrusts, substantially as described.

CHARLES STIIVELL.

Witnesses:

W. J. MORGAN, ROBERT MCDERMOTT.

